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Military ©fder of % taoyal be|ion 


OF THE 


United States. 


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COMMA]\lDEI\Y of THE DI^T^IClT OF COLUIV|BIA. 


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WAR PAPERS. 


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PREPARED BY COMPANION 


Brevet Brigadier General 

THOMAS M. VINCENT. 

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U. S. Army, 

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READ AT THE STATED MEETING OF JANUARY 6, 1892. 


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5Umtltam Lincoln amt ddumt Canton, 

1861-1865. 


Commander and Companions : What I may say on this oc¬ 
casion, I fear, will not prove more than an echo. The remark 
is applicable to many utterances, when thirty years removed 
from a time when great men were found necessary to perform 
a part within a theatre of war, which, in 1861, was opened 
to the gaze of the world. 

Truly are men known by the parts they play—their works— 
and, therefore, in giving some attention this evening to events 
connected with Abraham Lincoln and Edwin M. Stanton, it 
will not be out of place to refer to some of their great labors 
from 1861 to 1S65. 

Their labors were notin the field, for, as Commander-in-Chief 
and War Minister, in the great general struggle, they could not 
appear in person upon the fields of minor engagements. But 
they accomplished more than did the minor commanders. 
Through their efforts battles were made successful, and dis¬ 
tinction was made to crown generals and others. Their efforts, 
by day and by night, gave lustre to the armies of the Union. 

Through their inspiration they were present on every field, 
and organized victory ! 

George Bancroft, on a most memorable occasion, after refer¬ 
ring to the prediction of a West Jersey Quaker, 120 years 
before, that the consequence of importing slaves would “be 
grievous to posterity,” and the language of Patrick Henry, in 
1773, th a t a serious view of the subject “ gives a gloomy pros¬ 
pect to future times,” continued by quoting, in connection with 



4 


efforts for emancipation and abolition, words of despair from 
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and others, and recited how 
the enslavement of the African resulted in a storm, adding: 

“ The storm rose to a whirlwind ; who should allay its wrath? 
The most experienced statesman of the country had failed ; there 
was no hope from those who were great in the flesh ; could relief 
come from one whose wisdom was like the wisdom of little 
children ? 

“ The choice of America fell on a man born west of the Alle¬ 
ghenies, in the cabin of poor people of Hardin county, Ken¬ 
tucky—Abraham Lincoln.” 

Yes, fortunately, the choice fell to the man who, in the year 
1831, when an obscure flat-boatman, after having witnessed the 
flogging of a slave-woman, said : “If ever I get a chance at that 
institution, I will hit it hard ! ” Years thereafter, upon leaving 
his neighbors in order to take the oath of office as President of 
the United States, he added: “I leave you on an errand of 
national importance, attended, as you are aware, with some 
difficulties.” It was not long afterward, at a time when the 
North did not seem to be ready, when the calmness of the 
people was so great that it led to discouragement, that he 
remarked : “I begin to believe there is no North ! ” 

On one occasion, when written to relative to the resources 
of a man with whom a business firm had some dealings, he 
replied : 

“ I am well acquainted with Mr. Brown, and know his 
circumstances. First of all, he has a wife and baby ; together 
they ought to be worth $50,000 to any man. Secondlv, he has 
an office, in which there is a table worth $1.50, and three chairs 
worth, say, $1. Last of all, there is in one corner a large rat- 
hole, which will bear looking into.” 

That letter, at the anniversary celebration of Lincoln’s eighty- 
second birth-day, led to the following by the orator of the 
occasion : 

“At last, when he took the oath, what did he find? * * * 

When he came to take the inventory of the National assets, he 




5 


found in many a home mothers, children, affections, hopes, not 
to be counted by dollars. He found in the National Treasury a 
table worth $1.50, and three chairs worth $1 * * *; 

and he found on the south side of the National premises a 
large rat-hole, which, indeed, would bear looking into, for down 
it had vanished prosperity * * *, and the National 

existence itself was just disappearing when Abraham Lincoln 
rescued it, though, strange to say, he was criticised because he 
grasped it by the hair of its head.” 


As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy he was soon 
confronted with civil war, and recognized the aphorism : 

“ The sole object of a just war is to make the enemy feel the 
evils of his injustice, and, by his sufferings, amend his ways; he 
must, therefore, be attacked in the most accessible quarter.” 

But in April, 1861, the Government of the United States was, 
for the purpose of war, paralyzed. It had not, practically, an 
army to maintain its authority, and was far from being able to 
attack the “accessible quarter ” of an internal enemy, in con¬ 
spiracy over an area of 733,144 square miles, connected with a 
shore line of 25,144 miles, a coast line of 3,523 miles, and an 
interior boundary of 7,03 1 miles. This was the most important 
of the considerable difficulties, or obstacles. 

Had the people of the United States, through Congress, been 
more thoughtful concerning the object of, and necessity for, the 
military arm, paralysis would have been avoided through the 
availability of a suitable force to crush the initial movement of 
the rebellion, and the State, in combat with its own children, 
would have been spared a great sacrifice of human life—including 
that of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy. 

The magnitude attained by the rebellion is most instructive, 
for the public debt and money paid to pensioners—$3,963,159,- 
751.15—would support our present military establishment, cost¬ 
ing, say, $30,000,000 yearly, for one hundred and thirty-two 
years. Now, however, as the result of temporary expedients, 
coupled with shameful neglect, the people have to pay the 

* 


6 


debt, expend millions for pensions, and support an army costing 
yearly $30,000,000. That is to say, we have lost by not 
having an available force to prevent rebellion $3,963,159,- 

75*-i5- 

Early in the struggle the question was not: What will it 
cost? but, Can the Government be saved, at any cost? The 
patient was very ill ! Commendable and essential economy was 
forced to disappear from the grasp of the people. 

The life of the patient was saved, but the doctor’s bill has not 
yet been paid ! Moreover, it will never be practicable to ex¬ 
tend adequate compensation for the services and attendant 
sufferings of the soldiers who have made it possible, in 
the government of 65,000,000 of people, for a President to hold 
his office and a Congress to enact the necessary laws. 

Powerless, however, as the Government then was to overcome 
the gigantic attack on its life, there w 7 as, fortunately, a grand 
latent power, awaiting for its development only the demand 
of the National heart, and the regular army to educate it and 
prepare it for service. After about seven months of prepa¬ 
ration that power was manifested under an organization 
numbering 640,637 officers and enlisted men—the volunteer 
army of the United States, with its elements of patriotism, 
wisdom, courage, and moderation. 

During its organization Simon Cameron was at the head 
of the Department of War, and it cannot be denied that 
he achieved grand and valuable results at a time when his 
department had to encounter great embarrassments. He has 
said: “How difficult it was to lill the position of Secre¬ 
tary of War none but myself can ever know. * * * 

It was a terrible time.” 

The difficulty was to restrain the volunteers from exceed¬ 
ing the actual force required; and while men were tendered 
so generously, we were unprepared for the brewing con- 


7 


flict and absolutely- without the essentials to engage in war— 
without guns, powder, saltpetre, bullets, and other needed 
stores. 

In the recruitment of that powerful force, and its sub¬ 
sequent great increase, the people made great sacrifices. 
u The President was led along by the greatness of their 
self-sacrificing example, and as a child, in a dark night on 
a rugged way, catches hold of the hand of its father for 
guidance and support, he clung fast to the hand of the people 
and moved calmly through the gloom.” 

Mobilization. 

In connection with the mobilization, it must be remembered 
that January 1, 1861, the authorized army of the United 

States consisted of two regiments of dragoons, two regiments 
of cavalry, one regiment of mounted riflemen, four regiments 
of artillery, and ten regiments of infantry—aggregating, pres¬ 
ent and absent, 16,402 commissioned officers and enlisted men, 
inclusive of the general officers and general staff. 

April 15 of that year it was officially promulgated by the 
President that revolutionary combinations existed in certain 
States, and 75,000 militia, for three months’ service, were 
called to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws 
to be duly executed. In addition, all loyal citizens were ap¬ 
pealed to, that they might favor, facilitate, and aid the effort 
to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our 
National Union and the perpetuity of our popular government, 
and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. The Pres¬ 
ident deemed it proper to add that the first service of the forces 
would, probably, be to repossess the forts, plaqes, and property 
which had been seized from the Union, and directed that in 
every event, consistently with the objects he had referred to, 
care should be taken to avoid any devastation, any destruction 


8 


of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peace¬ 
ful citizens in any part of the country. 

When the President took this first decided action against 
the rebellion, the danger threatening the seat of Government 
will be indicated by the following: 


Headquarters of the Army, 

Washington, April 26 , 1861. 

General Orders, ) 

No. 4. j 

I. From the known assemblage near this city of numerous 
hostile bodies of troops, it is evident that an attack upon it may 
soon be expected. In such an event, to meet and repel the 
enemy, it is necessary that some plan of harmonious co-operation 
should be adopted on the part of all the forces, regular or vol¬ 
unteer, present for the defence of the Capital—that is, for the de¬ 
fence of the Government, the peaceful inhabitants of the city, their 
property, the public buildings and public archives. 

II. At the first moment of an attack every regiment, battalion, 
squadron and independent company will promptly assemble at its 
established rendezvous (in or out of the public buildings), ready 
for battle, and wait for orders. 

III. The pickets (or advance guards) will stand fast till driven 
in by overwhelming forces ; but it is expected that those stationed 
to defend bridges—having every advantage of position—will not 
give way until actually pushed by the bayonet. Such obstinacy 
on the part of pickets so stationed is absolutely necessary to give 
time for the troops in the rear to assemble at their places of ren¬ 
dezvous. 

IV. All advance guards and pickets driven in will fall back 
slowly to delay the advance of the enemy as much as possible, 
before repairing to their proper rendezvous. 

V. On the happening of an attack, the troops lodged in the 
public buildings and in the Navy Yard will remain for their de¬ 
fence, respectively, unless specially ordered elsewhere, with the 
exceptions that the 7th New York regiment and the Massachu¬ 
setts regiment will march rapidly towards the President’s Square 
for its defence : and the Rhode Island regiment (in the Depart¬ 
ment of the Interior), when full, will make a diversion, by 
detachment, to assist in the defence of the General Post-Office 
building, if necessary. 


Winfield Scott. 


9 


May 3, the President deemed it indispensably necessary to 
further augment the forces by 42,034 three-year volunteers (39 
regiments of infantry and r of cavalry) , and 22,714 officers and 
enlisted men, regulars (8 regiments of infantry, 1 of cavalry, and 
1 of artillery), thus making the forces, exclusive of the Navy, 
authorized for the protection of the National Constitution and 
the preservation of the National Union by the suppression of the 
insurrectionary combinations then existing, as follows : 


Regular army (January 1, 1861), . . . 16,402 

Militia (April 15, 1S61), ..... 75,000 

Regulars and volunteers (May 3, 1S61), . . 64,74s 

Total, ...... 156,150 


The call for militia was more than met; 91,816 men were 
furnished, and the call for 40 regiments of volunteers was 
exceeded—71 regiments of infantry, 1 of heavy artillery, and 
10 batteries of light artillery were accepted and mustered into 
service before July 1. 

In July the magnitude of the unlawful violence had fully 
dawned, and it was clearly apparent that the measures author¬ 
ized for the impartial enforcement of constitutional laws, and 
for the speedy restoration of peace and order, had failed. Con¬ 
gress assembled and authorized the President to accept 500,000 
volunteers, for three years or the war. Subsequently extended 
latitude, as to the acceptance, was conferred, in that “ previous 
proclamation ” was done away with, and the volunteers were 
authorized to be accepted in such numbers, from any State or 
States, as in his (the President’s) discretion the public service 
might require. 

January 15, 1S62, Edwin M. Stanton became Secretary of 
War, and through his stimulus the recruitment was so energet¬ 
ically pressed by the people that April 3, 1862, the forces were 
deemed sufficient to overcome the rebellion. At this time, had 


IO 


any one said it would require 2,678,697 enlistments from first to 
last, and an increase of the volunteer forces, in service at one 
time, to 1,034,064, in order that armed resistance to the Govern¬ 
ment might be overthrown, the assertion would have been con- 
sidered as marking insanity. It will be recalled that early in 
1S61 an officer, with fame now world-wide, urged the calling 
out of 300,000 men, and more than one person alleged him to be 
under a visitation of insanity—a subject fit for the institution 
having for its object 4k the most humane care and enlightened 
curative treatment of the insane of the army.” And when 
Simon Cameron advised that 500,000 men should be raised, the 
people laughed and thought he was mad. 

June 28, the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Ver¬ 
mont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, 
Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin—also the President of 
the Military Board of Kentucky—requested the President to 
call upon the several States for such number of men as might 
be required to fill up all organizations in the field and to add 
to the armies then organized. The request was based on a 
desire that the recent successes of the Federal armies might be 
followed by measures which would secure the speedy restoration 
of the Union, and the belief, in view of the important military 
movements then in progress, that the time had arrived for 
prompt and vigorous measures, thus to speedily crush the 
rebellion. The decisive moment seemed near at hand, and the 
people were desirous to aid promptly in furnishing all needful 
reinforcements to sustain the Government. 

The President concurred in the wisdom of the views expressed 
in the request, and, July 2, called for 300,000 men for three 
years. This call for volunteers was, August 4, supplemented 
by one through a draft for 300,000 militia for nine months’ 


service. 


II 


January i, 1863, the volunteer forces numbered 892,728; 
January 1, 1864, that number had been reduced to 836,101 ; but 
on January 1, 1865, it had been increased to 937,441, and on 
May 1 to 1,034,064. 

February 24, 1864, by act of Congress approved that date, the 
President was authorized, whenever he deemed it necessary 
during the war, to call for such number of men for the military 
service of the United States as the public exigencies might 
require. It established the will of the President as the authority 
for raising troops, and conferred a delicate and mighty power. 
That expressed confidence in the President was a sound rebuke 
to those who, not much more than one year before, had in con¬ 
templation to impeach and remove him from office. 

From first to last 2,678,967 men were furnished, and organ¬ 
ized into 1,668 regiments, 21 battalions and 504 independent 
companies of infantry; 232 regiments, 9 battalions, and 122 
independent companies of cavalry ; and 52 regiments, 6 bat¬ 
talions, and 274 companies of artillery. 

The constant addition to the forces of new regiments proved 
a great element of weakness to the armies. As a great evil, it 
may here be referred to. 

Under every call, the first act of Governors of States was to 
ask for authority to raise new regiments. The desire of the 
War Department was to secure recruits for old regiments, and 
thus maintain their organizations. The Secretary of War, in 
order to a determined stand, secured in December, 1864, the 
views of the General-in-Chief and army commanders. All were 
in support of the opinion of the Secretary relative to the necessity 
of recruits for old regiments, but the pressure of the States 
caused all, as on former occasions, to yield,'and 56 new regi¬ 
ments and 129 new independent companies, under the call of 
December 18, 1864, were added to the list of organizations in 
service, in addition to 77 new regiments and 98 companies under 


12 


the call of July iS, 1864. All this at a time when the Army of 
the Potomac, alone, required So,000 recruits to fill its organiza¬ 
tions to the maximum—some 400,000 would have been necessary 
for all the armies—and when experienced and gallant lieutenant- 
colonels and other regimental officers, bearing the wounds of 
many battles, could not receive promotion owing to the depleted 
state of their commands. The subject was pointedly referred to 
by the commander of one of the armies as follows : • 

“ The raising of new regiments is a means desired to fill the 
quota and avoid the draft. 

“There is no intention, I suppose, that these new regiments 
should serve the United States, and their colonels will hardly 
come into contact with the army. Still, if it be the intention to 
put these new regiments into the field, where their colonels 
would have command of older and better regimental command¬ 
ers, it is a question for the War Department to determine, and 
not mine. I must take troops as they come to me, and respect 
the commissions they hold.” 

There is a record of the increase, on one occasion, of the 
army of France from 200,000 to 400,000 in two months’ time, 
and had it been thought proper to inaugurate a vast system of 
defence, the number, it has been said, could have been raised to 
700,000 in four months—this under the influence of extra¬ 
ordinary expedients ; and the exertion was considered an evi¬ 
dence of the great energy and geniu * of Napoleon, as well as the 
military spirit of the French nation. 

Marvellous results have been achieved by the United States 
as exemplified by what has been recorded in the foregoing, in 
connection with the following summary : 

In 2months in 1S61 we find an average of almost 100,000 
men per month placed in service ; and during five months the 
average was 94,061-—this without the aid of extraordinary ex¬ 
pedients and in the face of great difficulties in army clothing, 
and equipping. 

At this early period of the war the difficulties in arming, 


1 3 


clothing, and equipping were so great that the services of thou¬ 
sands were declined. Could arms, clothing, and equipage have 
been secured, it is safe to say that 1,000,000 of men could have 
been placed in service within five months. 

Lincoln’s adopted State, Illinois, under the calls of July 
2, and August 4, 1S62, placed in service 58,689 men. Of 
that number over 50,000—from the farmers and mechanics 
of the State—were furnished within eleven days. 

“ Animated by a common purpose, and firmly resolved on 
rescuing the Government, * * * (they) left their harvests 

ungathered, their tools on their benches, the plows in 
the furrows;” thus making a proud record, without a parallel 
in the history of the war. 

Under the calls of July 2, and August 4, 1862, there were, 
prior to November 21, of that year, sent into the field : 

289 regiments of infantry for 3 years; 

58 regiments of infantry for 9 months; 

34 batteries of artillery for 3 years; 

42 companies of cavalry for 3 years; and 

36 companies of cavalry for 9 months. 

Also 50,000 recruits for old three-years regiments—a grand 
aggregate of 370,349 men; an average of about 82,211 per 
month. 

Under the proposition (accepted by the President April 23, 
1S64) of the Governors of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and 
Wisconsin, to furnish 85,000 one-hundred-day troops, the Gov¬ 
ernor of Stanton’s native State, Ohio, in response to the 
War Department call of May 1, ordered the contribution ot 
the State to rendezvous in the various counties, at the most 
eligible places, on the second day of May. Seven and one-half 
o’clock P. M., the same date, .reports recited 38,000 men in 
camp. In twelve days 36,254 men were organized into 41 


14 


regiments and 1 battalion, mustered, clothed, armed, equipped, 
and ready for transportation to the field. On May 24, 22 days 
from the date of rendezvous, the 42 regiments embracing the 
force were in active service. 

Here it will be of interest to remember that from April 15, 
1861, to April 28, 1865, a period of about 48 consecutive 
months, there was supplied a monthly average, for the Union 
and Confederate armies, of 75,000 men—a large army in itself. 
Considering the increase in the population of the United States 
since the rebellion, a sound and instructive deduction can be 
made relative to the present military power of our now united 
country. 

Disbandment. 

The orders for musters-out, issued on and subsequent to April 
29, 1865, brought gladness to many hearts, and the gallant 
men who had, after a vast sacrifice of life and health, caused 
peace to dawn, were anxious to pass from the army to civil 
life, which they did “ so quietly that it was scarcely known 
save by the welcome to their homes.” 

The soldiers and the people were tired of war. For with 
truth has it been said that “ in six hundred and twenty-five bat¬ 
tles and severe skirmishes blood flowed like water. It streamed 
over the grassy plains ; it stained the rocks ; the undergrowth 
of the forest was red with it; and the armies marched on with 
majestic courage from one conflict to another, knowing that 
they were fighting for GOD and Liberty.” 

I cannot think of that terrific struggle, a battle in which 
Lincoln was, for four long years, the Commander-in-Chief, 
without attaching to it the historic words used in connection 
with Waterloo, that culmination which terminated a period 
of unrestful and destructive energy — “a period throughout 
which the wealth of nations was scattered like sand, and the 
blood of nations lavished like water :” 


*5 


“ A battle fought for the interests of the human race, felt 4 
even, where they were not understood; so that the tutelary 
angel of man, when he traverses such a dreadful field, when 
he reads the distorted features, counts the ghastly ruins, sums 
the hidden anguish in the harvests 

‘of horror breathing from the silent ground,’ 

nevertheless, speaking as God’s messenger, 4 blesses it and 
calls it very good.’ ” 

The rapidity with which the work of disbandment .was 
executed will be apparent from the fact that, to August 7, 
640,806 troops had been mustered out; August 22, 719,338; 
September 14, 741,107; October 15, 785,205; November 15, 
800,963 ; January 20, 1866, 918,733 ; February 15, 952,452; 
March 10, 967,887 ; May 1, 986,782 ; June 30, 1,010,670 ; No¬ 
vember 1, 1,023,021—leaving then in service 11,043 volunteers, 
colored and white. 

The command of Sherman (Army of the Tennessee and Army 
of Georgia) and the Army of the Potomac, were the first to 
complete their musters-out entirely. Regiments commenced 
leaving Sherman’s command, then numbering, present and 
absent, 116,183 officers and men, from the rendezvous, near 
Washington, on May 29, and on August 1 the last one 
of the regiments mustered out left Louisville, Kentucky, to 
which point the command (after the musters-out therefrom were 
partly completed) w r as transferred, and the armies composing it 
merged into one—the Army of the Tennessee. The work of 
mustering out the troops was not continuous—it was inter¬ 
rupted and delayed by the transfer of the two armies from 
Washington to Louisville, and their subsequent consolidation. 

Regiments commenced leaving the Army of the Potomac 
numbering, including the 9th Corps, 161,851 officers and men, 


I 


16 

present and absent) from the rendezvous, near Washington, 
on May 29, and about six weeks thereafter (July 19) the 
last regiment started for home. During the interval the work, 
like that of Sherman’s command, was not continuous. It was 
interrupted and delayed by the movement of the 6th Corps from 
Danville, Virginia, to Washington, and the consolidation, by 
orders of June 28, of the remaining portion of the army into 
a provisional corps, numbering, present and absent, 22,699 
officers and men. 

Thus, for* the two commands in question, and between 
May 29 and August 1 (two months), 279,034 officers and men, 
present and absent, were mustered out and placed en route to 
their homes. 

Including the other armies and departments, the number 
was increased by August 7 (two months and seven days) to 
640,806 officers and men. 

Had it been possible to spare all the volunteers, the entire 
number, 1,034,064, could easily have been disbanded and 
returned to their homes within three months from the date 
(May 29, 1865) the movement homeward commenced. 

In Macaulay’s England we find the following relative to the 
disbandment of Cromwell’s army : 

44 The troops were now to be disbanded. Fifty thousand men 
accustomed to the profession of arms were at once thrown on 
the world ; and experience seemed to warrant the belief that 
this change would produce much misery and crime, that the 
discharged veterans would be seen begging in every street, or 
would be driven by hunger to pillage. But no such result fol¬ 
lowed. In a few months there remained not a tracj indicating 
that the most formidable army in the world had just been ab¬ 
sorbed into the mass of the community. The royalists them¬ 
selves confessed that in every department of honest industry the 
discharged warriors prospered beyond other men, and that none 
was charged with any theft or robbery, that none was heard to 
ask an alms, and that if a baker, a mason, or a wagoner attracted 
notice by his diligence and sobriety, he was in all probability 
one of Oliver’s old soldiers.” 


!7 


A greater eulogy was won by the magnificent volunteer army 
of the United States, aggregating more than 1,000,000 men—a 
force more than twenty times the size of that referred to by the 
English historian. 

When the time for disbandment had arrived, Governors of 
States and other distinguished men—all having deeply at heart 
the good of the country — were apprehensive that so great a 
force suddenly released from military restraint and employment 
would create disturbance throughout the country. The Sec¬ 
retary of War was requested to provide troops to maintain 
order. He did not view the fears of others as well founded, 
and made reply, in substance, that if we could not trust the 
soldiers who had subdued the rebellion, we might as well yield 
the life of the republic. He acted in accordance with his views, 
and beyond sending troops to take care of the depots wherein 
was stored the public property, turned over by the volunteers to 
the respective supply departments, precautions against disturb¬ 
ance were not taken . 

Movements of Troops Long Distances Within Short. 

Periods of Time. 

1. The transfer in 1S63, by rail, of the 12th Army Corps, 
the command aggregating 23,000 men—accompanied by its 
artillery, trains, animals, and baggage—from the Rapidan, in 
Virginia, to Stevenson, in Alabama, a distance of 1,192 miles in 
seven days, crossing the Ohio river twice. 

2. The transfer of the 23d Army Corps, 15,000 strong, with 
its artillery, trains, animals, and baggage, from Clifton, Tennes¬ 
see, via the Tennessee and Ohio rivers and the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad, to the Potomac, in eleven days—distance 1,400 
miles. This movement commenced January 15, 1865, within 
five days after the movement had been determined upon in 
Washington. It was continued, by water, to North Carolina, 


i8 


where, early in February, Wilmington was captured. March 
22, when the right wing of Sherman’s army reached Golds¬ 
boro, it found there the corps, which a short time prior had 
been encamped on the Tennessee. 

The movement was much impeded by severe weather—rivers 
were blocked with ice, and railroads rendered hazardous by 
frost and snow. 

3. The transfer, by water, of the 16th Army Corps from 
Eastport, Tennessee, to New Orleans. The entire command, 
including a brigade of artillery and a division of cavalry, 
consisted of 17,314 men, 1,038 horses, 2,731 mules, 351 wagons, 
and 83 ambulances. Three days were required to embark it 
on 40 steamers. The fleet sailed February 9, 1865, and the com¬ 
mand arrived at New Orleans February 23—a distance of 1,330 
miles in 13 days. 

4. The transfer, by sea, from City Point, Virginia, to Texas, 
of the 25th Army Corps, 25,000 strong, with its artillery, am¬ 
munition, ambulances, wagons, harness, subsistence, and 2,000 
horses and mules. 

The embarkation took place between May 26 and June 
17, 1865, and the debarkation, at Brazos Santiago, between 
June 13 and 26. The movement required a fleet of 57 
ocean steamers; entire tonnage, 56,987 tons. All of the vessels 

were provided for a 12 days’ voyage; 947 tons of coal and 

£ 

50,000 gallons of water were consumed daily. 

While this expedition was afloat, other movements by sea, 
in steam transports, aggregated more than 10,000 men, inclu¬ 
sive of 3,000 Confederate prisoners sent from Point Lookout 
to Mobile. Therefore there were more than 35,000 troops and 
prisoners afloat on the ocean at the same time. 

5. From November 1, 1863, to October 31, 1864—one 

year—626,126 men were forwarded to the field, and 268,114 
were returned to their homes on furlough and for discharge ; 


x 9 


making the aggregate of the movements 887,240—embracing 
independently of recruits 495 regiments and 119 batteries and 
companies. The following year the aggregate was 1,064,080, 
distributed to 1,126 regiments, 241 batteries, and 369 companies. 


Supplying the Armies. 

The army of Sherman, embracing 100,000 men and 60,000 
animals, was furnished with supplies from a base three hun¬ 
dred and sixty (360) miles distant, by one single-track railroad, 
located mainly in the country of an active enemy. The effort 
taxed and measured forethought, energy, patience, and watch¬ 
fulness, and is a most instructive lesson. The line was main¬ 
tained for months, until Atlanta was secured, and supplies for 
a new campaign had been placed there. 

The army then moved southeast, through Georgia, accom¬ 
panied by thousands of beef cattle, and trains embracing 3,000 
wagons filled with war supplies and material. 

After the capture of Savannah, the command was promptly 
met at that place by a great fleet, conveying clothing, tent¬ 
age, subsistence for soldiers and animals, wagons, harness, 
ammunition, and all else necessary for the march or in camp. 

The necessary supplies were again in readiness at Kinston 
and Goldsboro, through the agency of railroads constructed 
to those places from Wilmington and Morehead City, each 
of the two roads being 95 miles in length. 

While the foregoing was being accomplished, other larger 
armies in the east and west were as promptly and energetically 
supplied in all their wants. 

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1865, the demands 
for water transportation alone required a fleet of 719 vessels 
(351 steamers, m steam tugs, 89 sail vessels, 168 barges). 


20 


Military Railroads. 

The President, by the act of January i, 1S62 (General 
Order No. 10, Adjutant-General’s Office of that year), was 
authorized to take military possession of all the railroads in 
the United States; but it was not found necessary to exer¬ 
cise the authority over any of the roads outside the limits of 
the insurgent States. 

“ The military railroad organization (under a director and 
general manager—funds for its support being supplied by the 
Quartermaster’s Department) was designed to be a great con¬ 
struction and transportation machine for carrying out the objects 
of the commanding generals, so far as it was adapted to the pur¬ 
pose, and it was managed solely with a view to efficacy in that 
direction. It was the duty of the Quartermaster’s Department to 
load all the material upon the cars, to direct where such material 
should be taken, and to whom delivered. It then became the 
province of the railroad department to comply with said order in 
the shortest practicable time, and to perfect such arrangements 
as would enable it to keep the lines in repair under any and all 
circumstances.” 

Among the wonders connected with military railroad con¬ 
struction were : 

The Chattahoochee bridge, seven hundred and eighty (7S0) 
feet long and ninety-two (92) feet high, which was completely 
built in 4^ days by 600 men. 

The Etowah bridge, six hundred and twenty-five (625) feet 
long, seventy-five (75) feet high, was burned, and rebuilt by 
the labor of six hundred (600) men of the construction corps in 
six (6) days. 

In October, 1864, Hood’s army reached the rear of Sherman’s 
forces, first at Big Shanty, afterwards north of Resaca, destroy¬ 
ing, in the aggregate, 35J miles of track and 455 lineal feet of 
bridges ; 25 miles of track and 230 feet of bridges were recon¬ 
structed and trains were run over the distance in 71 days. In 13 


\ 


clays after Hood left the line trains were running over the entire 
length. 

Numerous other wonderful efforts are of record, but the fore¬ 
going are sufficient to illustrate the speed with which the con¬ 
struction corps operated. Commanders had such confidence in 
it that, in advancing, they were confident that the railroads in 
their rear would not fail to meet the wants of their commands. 
This confidence was most important in connection with lines of 
operations lengthened in depth, and resulted from the knowl¬ 
edge that u none of the humanly possible precautions for bas¬ 
ing” an army had been neglected. 

Other Logistical Measures—Indicating the Science 

of the Staff. 

The Adjutant-General’s Department and the Bureau of the 
Provost Marshal-General had to do with supplying men for the 
armies ; the results, in part, involving the personnel, have been 
made apparent from what has been recited. The former, in 
addition, was charged, during the entire war, with the organiza¬ 
tion and disbandment of the forces. 

The recruitment of white volunteers was under the exclusive 
control of the Adjutant-General’s Department from the first call 
for troops until May, 1863, when it was placed under the Pro¬ 
vost Marshal-General, to whom, by law, was confided the en¬ 
rollment and draft, and thereby the entire recruiting service for 
white troops was placed under one head, and a great reduction 
made in the expenses of recruitment, through the more rigid 
control secured by the enrollment act. 

The Adjutant-General’s Department had charge of the recruit¬ 
ment of colored troops and the re-enlistment of the veteran 
volunteers in the field. The plan for the recruitment of the 
126,000 veterans, who received the thanks of Congress, was 
devised and prepared by the Provost Marshal-General, and rela- 


22 


tive thereto Stanton has said : “I know of no operation con¬ 
nected with the recruitment of the army which has resulted in 
more advantage to the service than the one referred to.'’ 

The departments of the Adjutant-General and Provost Mar¬ 
shal-General recruited, respectively, 1,515,264 and 1,120,621 
men. 

The want of a carefully organized inspection department was 
felt during the war. Yet, so far as the personnel for inspection 
service extended, it fully performed its various important duties. 

Involving the material, through the supply departments, we 
find that, during the whole war, there was no failure of opera¬ 
tions through lack of transportation or the supplies required of 
the Quartermaster’s Department. Its vast and varied stores had 
not only to be ready at numerous and widely extended points, 
when needed, but it had to transport to all points, there to be in 
readiness at the proper time,* the extensive quantities of pro¬ 
visions, medical and hospital stores, arms and ammunition 
provided by the other supply departments. 

The Army mule, for the purposes of the draft , behaved nobly, 
and bore the conscription without being able to express a desire 
to furnish a substitute. On his roll of honor we find 450,000 
serving in the various armies. Six hundred and fifty thousand 
(650,000) horses joined the ranks ; and the third year of the war 
the field armies required for the cavalry, artillery, and trains one- 
half as many animals as there were soldiers. 

As the mules and horses had, as a general thing, to labor 
away from water and rail lines, they gave but little attention to 
the mechanical manoeuvres of 719 steam and sail vessels in 
service at one time during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1S65, 
and the 419 engines and 6,330 cars employed during the war. 

The soldier necessarily preferred the mail for his correspond¬ 
ence ; he did not confine himself to a single line, and, as a 
result, the 1,000,000,000 telegrams transmitted by the military 
telegraph were mostly on official business. 


23 


Good and wholesome rations were uniformly supplied by the 
Subsistence Department, and there was not a campaign, expe¬ 
dition, or movement that failed on account of the inability of the 
department to meet all proper requirements. It is true that, 
generally, the bread was rather lhard , yet, nevertheless, it was 
tackled and freely consumed. 

The Medical Department made ample provisions for the sick 
and wounded horn the first. Aside from the vast accommoda¬ 
tions elsewhere, Sherman’s army found at Savannah four first- 
class sea steamers, complete in all respects as hospital transports, 
with extra supplies for 5,000 beds, had it been necessary to 
establish large hospitals on his line of operations. Complaint 
was never made as to a shortage of medicine ; generally it was 
found that the supply exceeded any demand based on the sol¬ 
diers’ taste. 

The Government had an abundance of money wherewith to 
meet its sacred obligations, and the Pay Department kept its 
pledge “ to make prompt payments in the shortest practicable 
time.” 

When the war commenced the Government was forced to 
obtain from foreign countries almost the entire supply of arms 
and ammunition, but in 1863 the Ordnance Department became 
independent through home resources, both for the manufactured 
articles and the material composing them. 

Aside from contributing to the command of armies, the officers 
of the Corps of Engineers were charged with important labors 
in connection with the defences of Washington and other places, 
the reconnoissance of positions held by the enemy, the invest¬ 
ment of cities and towns, the fortifying of important points on 
railroads, the construction of offensive and defensive fortifica¬ 
tions necessary to the march of large armies, the manoeuvring 
of pontoon trains, surveys for the armies in the field, and the 
sea-coast and lake defences. 


24 


The ability and efficiency of its officers were notably i 11 us 
trated in the construction of the pontoon bridge (exclusive of 200 
feet of trestle-work) over 2,000 feet long—the main part in deep 
water, in some places 85 feet—across the James river above 
Fort Powhatan, by 450 men in five hours, between 5 and 10 
o’clock P. M. June 15, 1S64. Over this single frail structure 
passed—mainly in forty hours—the army, about 100,000 men 
under Grant, with cavalry, artillery and infantry, and trains 
embracing about 5,000 wagons, besides 3,000 beef cattle, with¬ 
out an accident to an individual, man or animal. This move¬ 
ment, one of the most important on record, took place during 
the fifth epoch of the grand campaign, from the Rapidan to the 
James, which opened May 4, 1864. 

The passage, in all its attending circumstances, may well 
stand forth brilliantly. If it does not surpass, it will compare 
favorably with the passage of the Danube, before Wagram, by 
150,000 of Napoleon’s forces, through the agency of three 
bridges—in all 1,360 feet—thrown over an arm of that river 140 
yards wide. 

The Signal Service was particularly valuable in observing 
and reporting the changes and movements of the enemy, and 
connecting the army and navy when employed in combined 
operations, thus enabling the two branches of the service to 
act as a unit. Oftentimes the services were of vital importance 
by furnishing information that could not have been had other¬ 
wise, notably as referred to by Sherman, as follows: 

“ When the enemy had cut our wires and actually made lodg¬ 
ment on our railroad about Big Shanty, the signal officers on 
Vining’s Hill, Kenesaw, and Altoona sent my orders to General 
Corse, at Rome, whereby General Corse was enabled to reach 
Altoona just in time to defend it. Had it not been for the services 
of this corps on that occasion, I am satisfied we should have lost 
the garrison at Altoona, and a most valuable depository of pro¬ 
visions there, which was worth to us more than the aggregate ex¬ 
pense of the whole signal corps for one year.” 


25 

Again, the late Brigadier-General Myer, as Chief Signal 
Officer, has said : 

“ The officers of the Signal Corps opened the first direct com¬ 
munication from the Upper to the Lower Mississippi, when 
Rear-Admiral Farragut, running past the batteries of Port Hud¬ 
son, found himself, after the perilous passage, cut oft’ above that 
fortress from the vessels of his fleet, which could not follow him 
and were lying in the stream below. 

“ There is not, perhaps, on record a feat of aerial telegraphy 
such as that thus and then performed, when from the topmast of 
the flag-ship of the Admiral, lying above the fort, messages were 
regularly transmitted past the guns of the fortress to a station on 
the mast-top of the war vessel Richmond, five or six mi es 
below.” 

Stanton. 

It has been said that Stanton dominated the President to 
the extent of disregarding orders and instructions. While he 
ever readily considered Stanton’s advice, I had frequent op¬ 
portunities of observing that the President was the controlling 
power—the master, as was his wont to say. I well remem¬ 
ber an order given at one time which the Secretary deemed 
based upon misconception. I was instructed to take the case 
to the President and invite his consideration to its prominent 
points. On reaching the Executive Mansion I found the Presi¬ 
dent in the reception-room, surrounded by a large number of 
persons. He immediately recognized me, stepped forward and 
conducted me into the most retired corner of the room. After 
I had stated the object of my visit, he said : Stanton is care¬ 
ful and may be right. I was very busy when I examined the 
case, but I will take the papers, re-examine, and by four 
o’clock this afternoon send them by messenger to your office. 
Before the hour indicated, the papers were in my hands. The 
President had revoked his order and affirmed the decision of 
the Secretary. The case is illustrative of the official relations 
between the two great men. 


26 


It will be pertinent here to recall the episode connected with 
the Sherman-Johnson convention, of April 18, 1865. 

Prior to that convention, or agreement, President Lincoln 
said—April 3—to General Grant that he did not wish any 
conference with General Lee unless it should be for “ the 
capitulation of Lee’s army, or on solely minor or purely 
military matters,” and that he was not to “ decide, discuss, or 
confer on any political question,” as such questions were held 
in the President’s own hands. 

Upon the receipt (April 21) by Grant of the Convention, 
and prior to his submitting it to President Johnson with a 
suggestion that it should be considered by the entire Cabinet, 
he felt satisfied that the President would not approve, and 
when he (April 21) disapproved, the reasons were given by 
Stanton, as the representative of the Executive, in the tele¬ 
gram to General Dix. 

After the disapproval became known to Sherman he, in writ¬ 
ing to Stanton, on April 25, said: “ I admit my folly in 
embracing in a military convention any civic matters.” 

We all know that Sherman was embittered as to Stanton, 
and that many of his friends were equally so; but among 
his very best friends were found men of the highest eminence 
who, through emphatic letters to Stanton, condemned the con¬ 
vention, and supported the announcement to the country as 
made through the Dix telegram. 

The allegation that Stanton’s death was the result of a self- 
inflicted wound is refuted abundantly by the letter from Surgeon 
General Barnes, dated April 16, 1879, to the editor of the 
Philadelphia Press; but I may here state that after Stanton’s 
death I often saw his body, and frequently was very near it, 
and I remained at the house for the main portion of the 
night preceding the interment of the remains; consequently I 
was in a position to have noticed self-inflicted injury, had there 
been any. 


2 7 


To a private soldier I have known him to give audience 
when his leisure was so pressed as to cause an interview 

with officers of high rank to be refused, and yet the warmth 
of his heart, as attested by the War Department records, was 

found going out at all times, through measures calculated to 

enhance the comfort and protect the interests of the members— 
officers and men—of the armies of the Union. 

His devotion to the public welfare was such as to find 
him at his desk, not only during the day, but at night, until 
near the dawn—not satisfied to go to his home for needed 
rest until the most that could be had been accomplished. And 
when really ill, during many nights of prolonged labor, a de¬ 
voted and entreating wife, who had come in the hours of 

morning to accompany him from his office, often failed to break 
the vigil devoted to the public interest. 

Often, at midnight, I have found myself with important 
papers before him for consideration, the labors of the day hav¬ 
ing so pressed him as to prevent his necessary action during 
the usual hours of duty ; and on more than one occasion did 
he fall asleep before I had finished, so great was his fatigue. 

The great strain eventually did its work, and at times he 

had, from illness, to remain at his house. On one of these 

occasions his old-time friend, Governor Brough, of Ohio, tele¬ 
graphed to me to know Mr. Stanton’s condition. I went to 
his house, and, after reading the telegram, he said he would 
answer it himself, and attempted to do so ; but his great strength 
had so far weakened that he could not wield the pen, and, 
with tremulous voice and tearful eyes, he bade me make the 
necessary reply. 

Endowed with greatness of intellect, coupled with super¬ 
human energy and industry, he was eminently gifted in dis¬ 
patching public affairs. While strictly honest, he was so 

blindly devoted to the cause of the Union, and so rigid in 


28 


the view that self-preservation was paramount to all other 
considerations, that before him justice, at times, seemed power¬ 
less, and personal rights passed for trifles. 

As to the trials of his high position, we have his own fer¬ 
vent words in a letter to a friend, in May, 1862, as follows: 

“ I hold my present post at the request of the President, 
who knew me personally, but to whom I had not spoken 
from the 4th of March, 1861, until the day he handed me my 
commission. I knew that everything I cherish and hold dear 
would be sacrificed by accepting office. But I thought I 
might help to save the country, and for that I was willing 
to perish. If I wanted to be a politician or a candidate for 
any office, would I stand between the Treasury and the robbers 
who are howling around me? 

* * * * * * * * 

“ I was never taken for a fool, but there could be no greater 
madness than for a man to encounter what I do for anything else 
than motives that overleap time and look forward to eternity. 
******** 

“ The confidence of yourself and men like you is a full equiva¬ 
lent for all the railing that has been or can be expended against 
me; and in the magnitude of the cause all merely individual 
questions are swallowed up.” 

I believe that the public vision has had removed from it the 
mote which, for a time, caused certain elements of his character 
to stand not approved. But, passing that, he certainly stood well 
forward as to “that impersonal life which is the fullest definition, 
as well as the truest test, alike of goodness and greatness,” and 
his great ability and the force of his will made him eminently 
successful in the high office of War Minister when treason 
and rebellion were abroad. It has been well said that his 
training as an advocate so strengthened his devotion to a cause 
when adopted that, even if he had not loved the cause of the 
Union, he would have labored for it intensely because he was 
retained in it. With his qualifications and the delegation of 
almost unbounded military authority, he was the right arm of 
the Executive of the Nation “ in smiting treason and rebellion 
and re-establishing the foundation of the Government.” 


29 


Cameron said of Stanton in June, 1S78 : “He was a great, 
big, brave, loyal man ; perhaps too harsh and quick-tempered 
in his treatment of those around him, but, nevertheless, a 
thoroughly good and well-meaning man. He had terrible re¬ 
sponsibilities, which at times caused him to be exacting almost 
to the very verge of injustice, but I am sure that he always 
intended to do right, and there is no doubt he was in every way 
the man best fitted for the place in the Government which he 
was called upon to fill. He was a man of wonderful strength, 
not only of mind but of body, yet even he gave way under the 
constant, the never-ending strain which was put upon all his 
faculties. His death was hastened by, if not the direct result 
of, overwork in the War Department.” 

Sherman said in February, 1876 : “ I have the highest opin¬ 
ion of Stanton’s administrative qualities, and freely accord him 
all honor for marshalling to the defence of the Nation its max¬ 
imum strength.” 

Had Stanton been spared to enjoy the full fruition resulting 
from his great labors, 1 believe that Sherman, through an im¬ 
pulse natural to his magnanimity, would have admitted more 
than his folly in embracing civic matters in the military conven¬ 
tion. 

It is true that, at times, “ The lover and the hero reason not. 

* * * But they believe in what they love and do.” 

Stanton and Sherman were heroes, and devoted lovers of their 
country and its glorious flag! Stanton, at times, reasoned not, 
else the sharp words adverse to Sherman, as uttered at the Cab¬ 
inet meeting during the consideration of the terms ot the con- * 
vention, would not have passed his lips. Sherman would have 
recognized that fact, and, through a union of his and Stanton’s 
love of country, there would have resulted a full reconciliation 
of their regretted differences. The mote would have been en¬ 
tirely removed from Sherman’s eye, and his cheeks would have 
been wetted with Stanton’s joyful tear. 


30 


Stanton’s genius as a ruler and organizer, and ability to reach 
grand results with vigor and masterly skill, are found in the 
public archives, endurably recorded. 

Lincoln. 

It was a frequent thing for the President to visit my office, 
thus to obtain direct information. He was particularly inter¬ 
ested in the success of the recruitment, and for his own conve¬ 
nience he personally tabulated the daily telegraphic reports on 
a slip of paper. After he had made the necessary record, he 
would roll the slip around a short lead-pencil and place it in his 
vest-pocket, from which he would take it during the ensuing 
visit. If the number of men obtained was satisfactory he would 
sit for a brief time, conversing brightly ; but if otherwise, the 
enlarged furrows of care on his face would indicate the sadness 
of his disappointment, and, without a word, he would depart. 

These interviews indicated his sublime simplicity of character ; 
but, withal, there was ever with him the marked dignity of a 
noble manhood. 

Soon after the act of July 17, 1862, authorizing persons of 
African descent to be received into the service of the United 
States, and before the President had decided fully what he 
would do under it, but at a date when the good results that 
would follow the enactment were obvious to him, he received 
an application—it may have been from a Mr. Black or a Mr. 
Brown—to raise a regiment. In his characteristic way he 
endorsed the application: “Referred to the Secretary of War. 
This gentleman wishes to engage in the ebony trade. A. 
Lincoln.” 

His interest manifested in the recruitment of colored troops is 
apparent from his letter, dated April 1, 1863, to Major-General 
Hunter, in which he said : 

“ I am glad to see the account of your colored force at Jack- 


3i 

sonville, Florida. I see the enemy are driving at them fiercely, 
as is to be expected. 

u It is important to the enemy that such a force shall not take 
shape, and grow and thrive in the South ; and, in precisely the 
same proportion, it is important to us that it shall. Hence the 
utmost caution and vigilance is necessary on our part. The 
enemy will make extra efforts to destroy them ; and we should 
do the same to preserve and increase them.” 

After the colored troops had won their reputation—when it 
was recognized that their colors were guarded with as much 
patriotic care as though talismanic virtues clustered around 
them—he said that their employment was one of the greatest 
blows dealt to the rebellion, and, in hoping that peace would 
soon be permanent, added : “Then will there be some black 
men who can remember that they have helped to this great con¬ 
summation.” Commencing with Milliken’s Bend, June 7, 
1863, General Grant frequently complimented the colored 
troops, much to the President’s gratification. 

The President, on one occasion, in defining the franchise, said 
that some of the colored people “might be let in; * * * 

“they would probably help, in some trying time to come, to 
keep the jewel of liberty in the family of freedom.” 

In the humble cabin with its three-legged stool; bedstead of 
poles, supported by crotched sticks; log table; pot, kettle and 
skillet, and a few tin and pewter dishes, his boyhood’s ascent 
in life began as he “ climbed at night to his bed of leaves in the 
loft, by a ladder of wooden pegs driven into the logs.” In latter 
years his ascent was onward and upward, by the ladder of fame, 
gaining at each round the esteem and honor of his countrymen. 

It could not have been otherwise, when we consider his emi¬ 
nent endowment with the gifts and virtues of charity, humility, 
meekness, patience, diligence, wisdom, prudence, justice, and 
fortitude. 

The beautiful devotion of the son to the memory of his 
mother, through the services over her grave several months 


32 


after her interment, has pointed to Lincoln’s “ faith in the un¬ 
seen, hope in immortality, and love of the beauty of holiness.” 

Hallam, when writting of Charlemagne, and the epoch made 
by that great emperor in the history of the world, by advancing 
civilization and regenerating Western Europe, used words which 
may be applied to Lincoln : “His sceptre was as the bow of 
Ulysses, which could not be drawn by a weaker hand. He 
stood alone, like a beacon upon a waste, or a rock in the 
broad ocean. His deeds have cast a lustre around his head 
and testify the greatness that has embodied itself in his name.” 

The Closing Hours. 

April 14, 1865, I had, about ten o’clock P. M., returned from 
the War Department to my house, and very soon thereafter was 
informed by a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln—Dr. Lyman Beecher 
Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky—that the President had been 
assassinated, and the members of his Cabinet attacked. I at once 
hurried to the house of the Secretary of War, and there found 
the family greatly alarmed and excited; but the Secretary, 
just prior to my arrival, had started for Mr. Seward’s resi¬ 
dence. I followed, and there learned that he had gone to the 
scene of the tragedy, on 10th street; on reaching the locality 
I found him at the house to which the President had been 
taken from Ford’s Theatre. I remained there, near the Sec¬ 
retary, and at his request, during the night. He was greatly 
saddened, and referred to the change of scene from that at 
the Cabinet meeting, a few hours before, at which General 
Grant was present, when the state of the country and the 
prospect of a speedy peace were discussed. He stated that 
the President during the meeting was hopeful and very cheer¬ 
ful, and had spoken kindly of General Lee and other officers 
of the Confederacy. Particularly had his kindly feelings gone 
out to the enlisted men of the Confederacy, and during the 


33 


entile session of the Cabinet his manner and words mani¬ 
fested, emphatically, a desire to restore a satisfactory peace 
to the South, through all due regard for her vanquished citi¬ 
zens. Yet, whilst he was buoyant, on that Good Friday, in his 
advocacy of “ Peace on earth to men of good will,” he 
seemed depressed, at times, in consequence of his dream of 
the previous night, which had recurred several times on the 
eve of some important event— u a vague sense of floating—float¬ 
ing away, on some vast and indistinct expanse, toward an 
unknown shore ! ” 

About 1,30 A. M. it was determined that the wound was 
mortal, that the President was then dying, and that it was not 
probable that he would live through the night. The Secretary 
then informed me that it would be necessary to stand prepared to 
communicate the President’s death to the Vice-President, and 
soon thereafter handed me the rough draft of the formal notifica¬ 
tion, from which I prepared a fair copy, and held it until after 
the President’s death, which was officially announced at 7.55 
A. M., April 15, by a telegram from the Secretary to Major- 
General Dix, as follows : 

“ Abraham Lincoln died this morning at twenty-two minutes 
after seven o’clock.” 

The notification to the Vice-President was duly signed and 
communicated, as recited in a subsequent telegram, as follows: 

Official notice of the death of the late President, Abraham 
Lincoln, was given by the heads of Departments this morning 
to Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, upon whom the Constitu¬ 
tion devolved the office of President. Mr. Johnson, upon 
receiving this notice, appeared before the Honorable Salmon P. 
Chase, Chief Justice of the United States, and took the oath of 
office as President of the United States, and assumed its duties 
and functions.” 

The death-bed scenes were harrowing in the extreme. Sur- , 
rounding and near the illustrious one, who was insensible from 


34 


the fiist in consequence of his mortal wound, from which his 
life’s blood was oozing, were the sobbing, grief-stricken wife, all 
the members of the Cabinet save Mr. Seward, and others in 
civil and military circles. As the sure approach of death was 
noticed, the deep sad gloom increased, and, at the solemn 
moment, it seemed that it had extended to Heaven to be from 
there promulgated back to earth through the agency of deep 
sable clouds. The attendant drops of rain seemed to have been 
sent to mingle, sorrowfully, with the tears of the Nation. 

Soon after eight o’clock the devoted War Minister had ordered 
all to be arranged for the removal of the body to the Executive 
Mansion, and then left me, as his representative, until after the 
transfer should take place. It was about this time that, after 
pressing and smoothing the eyes of the dead President, I placed 
coins on them to close them for a last long slumber. 

u Softly heroic the life had been all through ; ” and he who 
had loved and served his country so well was, at the final 
instant, sealed for preservation in that repository of abundance— 
the love of his countrymen. 

To quote again from Bancroft’s fitting words : 

“ Where in the history of nations had a chief magistrate pos¬ 
sessed more sources of consolation and joy than Lincoln? His 
countrymen had shown their love by choosing him to a.second 
term of service. The raging war that had divided the country 
had lulled, and private grief was hushed by the grandeur of the 
result. The Nation had its new birth of freedom, soon to be se¬ 
cured forever by an amendment to the Constitution. His persist¬ 
ent gentleness had conquered for him a kindlier feeling on the 
part of the South. His scoffers among the grandees of Europe 
began to do him honor. The laboring classes everywhere saw 
in his advancement their own. All peoples sent him their bene¬ 
dictions. And at this moment of the height of his fame, to 
which his humility and modesty added charms, he fell by the 
hand of an assassin ; and the only triumph awarded him was the 
march to the grave. * * * Not in vain has Lincoln 

lived, for he has helped to make this republic an example of 
justice, with no caste but the caste of humanity. * * * The 

heroes who led our armies.and ships into battle and fell in the 


35 


service * * * did not die in vain ; they, and the myriads of 

nameless martyrs, and he, the chief martyr, gave up their lives 
willingly 4 that government of the people, by the people, and for 
the people shall not perish from the earth.’ ” 

Commander and Companions, may I not, in closing, borrow 
other well-known words as fittingly applicable to our beloved 
Chief Martyr : 

“ He spoke among you, and the man who spoke ; 

Who never sold the truth to serve the hour. 

Nor paltered with Eternal God for power; 

******* 

Great in council and great in war, * * * 

Rich in saving common sense, 

And, as the greatest only are, 

In his simplicity sublime, * * * 

Whose life was work, whose language rife 
With rugged maxims hewn from life ; 

Who never spoke against a foe ; ” * * * 

To him : 

“ The path of duty was the way to glory; 

He that walks it, only thirsting 
For the right, and learns to deaden 
Love of self, before his journey closes, 

He shall find the stubborn thistle bursting 
Into glossy purples, which outredden 
All voluptuous garden roses. * * * 

Let his great example stand 
Colossal, seen of every land, 

And keep the soldier firm, the statesman pure : 

Till in all lands, and through all human story 
The path of duty be the way to glory; 

And let the land whose hearths he saved from shame, 

For many and many an age, 

At civic revel, and pomp, and game, 

Attest their great Commander’s claim, * * * 

With honor, honor, honor, honor to him, 

Eternal honor to his name.” * * * 


Yea ! 


“ Let the sound of those he wrought for, 
And the feet of those he fought for, 
Echo round his bones for evermore.” 


* 


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